Perceived Value

In the 57th episode of Perceived Value host Sarah Rachel Brown is excited to welcome a new sponsor to the podcast, Pistachios. As Sarah was communicating with the gallery owner Jessica Armstrong, she realized there was a story to tell there. Sarah and Jessica met nearly 10 years ago at a conference and have kept in touch sporadically since then. The two friends sat down to reconnect and discuss the difference in tuition waivers VS scholarships, the impacts of COVID, and how Jessica, once a part-time employee, came to be the owner of this well-established gallery.

In the 56th episode of Perceived Value host Sarah Rachel Brown connects with gallerist Sienna Patti. Sienna is the first to say that she is not an artist, but this creative has dedicated her career to supporting and making artists look good. The two woman sat down to discuss what experiences led Sienna to opening her gallery, the importance of holding on to one’s naivete, sustaining engagement, and contracts or lack there of.

In the 55th episode of Perceived Value host Sarah Rachel Brown sits down with Philadelphia-based metalsmith Rachel Kedinger. Being that Rachel is a close friend and part of Sarah’s pandemic pod, this interview was recored in-person which felt REALLY good after many remote recordings. This past year can easily be described as exhausting and in the midst of it all, Rachel went through the process of donating a kidney to her sister. The two friends sat down to discuss what this experience entailed and how Rachel prepared herself professionally and financially for this major surgery. Beyond the kidney chat, the two friends talked about following opportunities, creating problems to solve, and the importance of having a good time.

In the 54th episode of Perceived Value host Sarah Rachel Brown sits down with the 2020 Halstead Grant Winner, Christina Grace of TIN HAUSE Jewelry. Having been the guest judge for the 2020 grant, Sarah was eager to speak with the woman whom she had come to know so much about through her application. The two women connected from across the country to discuss Christina’s diverse experiences which included competing in pageants, modeling, being a working actress in L.A., practicing meditation, and how jewelry making as her Hollywood side hustle eventually led to her next career.

In the 53rd episode of Perceived Value, host Sarah Rachel Brown speaks with Matt Lambert who is the co-founder of the Fulcrum Project amongst their many endeavors. Matt is a non-binary, trans multidisciplinary practitioner currently based between Detroit Michigan, US and Stockholm Sweden where they are a PhD student between Konstfack & HDK Valand in Sweden. The two artists connected over Zoom to discuss what prompted Matt and their partner Feather Chiaverirni to form this project during COVID, their experience launching a digital residency as the project's inaugural initiative, and the artists who volunteered their time and knowledge to help make it possible.

In the 52nd episode of Perceived Value, host Sarah Rachel Brown remotely records her interview with LA-based artist Corey Pemberton from the safety of her own home. It’s been 3 months since an episode has been released and in that time, Sarah has adapted her recording technology, know-how, and embraced the new reality that remote recording is the only option for the foreseeable future. Sarah connected with Corey to discuss Crafting The Future, a collective of artists concerned about the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in the fields of craft, art, and design. The two artists discuss what it’s like leading an organization in its infancy, what a fiscal sponsor is, the power of creating community to create change, and who exactly is the mothership.

Welcome to Season 4 of Perceived Value! In the 51st episode of Perceived Value, host Sarah Rachel Brown is in Boston, MA as a visiting artist at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts. Sarah has been invited to speak to the metals/jewelry students about her diverse studio practice and record a podcast episode while on campus. Boston is home to the only curator dedicated solely to jewelry in the United States and so asking Dr.Emily Stoehrer to be the guest for this special recording was a no-brainer. Sarah and Emily were already acquaintances having met while both were presenting at the ECU Symposium in 2018. In the SMFA library while students and faculty looked on, the two women sat down to discuss Emily’s transition from working at the District Attorney’s office to student at FIT, the stress of fronting business expenses, Boston traffic, and what exactly does the day-to-day life as a curator involve.

In the fiftieth episode of Perceived Value host Sarah Rachel Brown has traveled to Arcata, CA as a visiting artist at Humboldt State University. Thanks to a fortuitous miscommunication, Sarah’s plan to interview the students was reversed and for the first time on the podcast, she’s the one answering the questions. The HSU Jewelry & Small Metals department is small but mighty, with many student’s academic focus lying elsewhere. Professor Emily Cobb assigned each student to submit three questions to be asked to Sarah to ensure a variety of topics were addressed. Once on the mics, each interviewer was given 5 minutes to get through as many of their questions as possible with Sarah. The students delivered and they did not shy away from the harder-to-tackle topics. What do students want to talk about? In this episode Sarah gives her best advice and insight on creating when grieving, how to navigate commissions from friends and family, ignoring social media, being an AJF ambassador, what’s better - a BFA or BA? AND SO MUCH MORE.

In the 48th episode of Perceived Value, host Sarah Rachel Brown is in Richmond, VA with metalsmith Jaydan Moore. The two artists are no strangers, having met at the Penland School Of Crafts while Sarah was a Core Fellow and Jaydan was an artist in residence. The two friends sit down to catch up and discuss what life is like for Jaydan since he made the conscious decision to stop pursuing long-term residencies and create a life for himself in Richmond. This extra-long episode touches on all sorts of topics: oil can infatuation, the perks of working at Trader Joe’s, Karl the cat and how one stumbles upon some serious gallery representation.

In this brief message, host and producer Sarah Rachel Brown speaks on her current situation during the COVID-19 pandemic and what this means for the podcast. She’s got a lot of time on her hands, so yes, new episodes are on the horizon. Please take care and as always, thank you for listening.

In the 47th episode of Perceived Value, host Sarah Rachel Brown continues her recording on-site at the American Craft Council conference which took place in Philadelphia this past October. Sarah sits down Jennifer Ling Datchuk who was the ACC Emerging Voices Award winner in 2017. Even though they had never met previously, the two women took no time warming up to each other in conversation and enthusiastically jump into topic after topic. The two artists discuss how Ling paid her way for her education, how she has taken control of managing her student loan debt through educating herself and staying informed, and what it means to be named ACC’s Emerging Voices Award winner. website: https://jenniferlingdatchuk.com/ instagram: @jenniferlingdatchuk

In the 46th episode of Perceived Value, host Sarah Rachel Brown is recording on-site at the American Craft Council conference which took place in Philadelphia this past October. Sarah sits down with the editor of Metalsmith Magazine, Adriane Dalton, and the two women discuss the value in attending conferences, why Adriane decided to go to grad school, what experiences prepared her to be an editor, and how one finds themselves moving from New York City to a tiny town in Utah.

In the 45th episode of Perceived Value host Sarah Rachel Brown is in Richmond, VA and sits down with the co-director of Radical Jewelry Makeover, Kathleen Kennedy. Having already spoken with Susie Ganch who developed RJM and continues to co-direct, Sarah wanted to get insight as to who was helping Ganch continue this important project. Moments after turning on the mics, the two women discover they have much in common and discuss their similar ages, experiences moving to Seattle, and their undying love of show choir. Of course they talked shop and Kathleen shared about her experiences adjuncting, why she went grad school, and how she went from being one of the first student participants of Radical Jewelry Makeover to a current co-director.

In the 44th episode of Perceived Value host Sarah Rachel Brown sits down with musician Ralph Darden A.K.A. DJ Major Taylor. The two artists were introduced during Sarah’s recent trip to Chicago for the SNAG conference and after dancing all night to one of Ralph’s DJ sets, it was decided that he’d be the perfect podcast guest. During a visit to his home town of Philadelphia, Ralph sat down with Sarah to discuss how he came to be a full-time musician, what types of events he finds most fulfilling to DJ, and what exactly does a DJ get paid.

In the 43rd episode of Perceived Value host Sarah Rachel Brown takes a trip to NYC to interview one of the women working tirelessly behind the scenes to make New York City Jewelry Week happen. The inaugural NYCJW brought roughly 10,000 arts and culture enthusiasts to the big apple and this year is shaping up to be even bigger and better. The two women sat down to discuss what experiences led JB to being a co-founder, the importance of showing up when trying to get your foot in the door, what lessons were learned from the inaugural year, and what visitors can expect from NYCJW19. New York City Jewelry Week is happening November 18th - 24th.